Top Questions
Why is the name a pope chooses significant?
What is the significance of Leo as a papal name?
What was unique about Pope John Paul I’s name choice?
Why did Pope Francis choose his name?
William Shakespeare may have poo-pooed the importance of names by asking “What’s in a name?” But when it comes to the Roman Catholic Church the answer is: “A lot.” The name chosen by a pope has, throughout the history of the church, offered insight into the way he would lead the Church’s now 1.3 billion faithful. Here is a brief look at the significance of some papal name choices, including that of Pope Leo XIV.
The one and onlyPeter was the first pope, the man of whom Jesus Christ says in the Gospel of Matthew: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.” Out of deference to Christ’s choice, no pope since has chosen that name. Peter, though, is far from the only name to be used only once. In all, 44 papal names—including Francis (more on the significance of that a little later)—have been used only once, including, perhaps unsurprisingly, Valentine, Linus, and Hilarius. There are also some fairly significant names in Catholic theology that have never been chosen by a pope, including Joseph (Mary’s husband) and the apostles James and Andrew.
The John PaulsWhen Albino Luciani was elected pope in August 1978, he broke with tradition by choosing the name John Paul. He was the first pope to use two names and did so to honor his immediate predecessors John XXIII and Paul VI. His sudden death, just 33 days after his selection, made his the shortest papacy in modern history. His successor, Karol Wojtyła, who made history as the first Polish pope, in turn paid homage to his predecessors by assuming the name John Paul II.
Who were the most influential popes in the history of the Church?
The name of piety and traditionGiven that the word pious means “devoutly religious,” the name Pius, chosen by 12 pontiffs, has become associated with deeply traditional practices. For example, Pope Pius X, the first pontiff chosen in the 20th century, moved the church away from the social reform policies of Leo XIII, instituting some censorship of works that attempted to interpret church teaching through a modern lens. Additionally, Pius XII has been criticized as “the Silent Pope” for not speaking out more during World War II and the Holocaust. Given the association with traditional Catholicism, any pope choosing the name Pius in the future could be seen as a move back to more old-school church doctrines.
Recent pontifical names: Benedict, Francis, LeoIn the 21st century, popes have offered explanations for their choices of their names. When Joseph Ratzinger became pope in 2005, he did so in a time of deep division in the church. He took the name Benedict XVI, in a nod to Benedict XV, who was seen as a healer of global wounds. “I chose to call myself Benedict XVI ideally as a link to the venerated pontiff, Benedict XV, who guided the Church through the turbulent times of the First World War,” he explained. Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope and one known for his humility, was inspired to choose his unique name by a cardinal who asked him to remember the poor during his papacy. That led him to think of St. Francis of Assisi, whom the pope described as “the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation.”
The decision by the first American pope, Robert Prevost, to become Pope Leo XIV is, perhaps, a nod to a name that has embodied church reform. Leo I (one of three popes to also be called “the Great”) helped establish the role of the papacy in the broader world when he convinced the Huns and the Vandals from invading Rome in 452. In 1049 Leo IX insisted on being elected pope by the people of Rome, despite having been appointed by the Holy Roman emperor Henry III. This break with tradition was the first of many papal reforms. Leo XIII was a long-serving pontiff seen as being deeply committed to the church playing a role in the larger world. In his 1891 encyclical Rerum novarum (“Of New Things”), he ruffled the feathers of conservative Roman Catholics by what was seen as a progressive doctrine in the context of 19th-century Roman Catholicism. In part, it laid out the church’s position on social justice issues, including problems fostered by the Industrial Revolution.
Tracy GrantRetroSearch is an open source project built by @garambo | Open a GitHub Issue
Search and Browse the WWW like it's 1997 | Search results from DuckDuckGo
HTML:
3.2
| Encoding:
UTF-8
| Version:
0.7.3